Cotton picker



R. S. CURLEY ET AL COTTON PICKER 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 2, 1940.

Filed Jan. 23, 1937 Blz-9.1

/A/SVENTORSI ATTORNE July 2, 1940. R. s. cuRLEY Er AL COTTON PICKER Filed Jan. 23. 1937 o o o o. o o o o o s 4 .v 43A 4| Y E;

Patented July 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Saco, Maine, assignors,

by mesne assignments,

to Saco-Lowell Shops, Biddeford, Maine, a cors poration of Maine Application January 23, 1937, serial No. 121,996

14 Claims.

A typical cotton picker comprises a beater section, a condenser section adjoining it, and a blower for creating the suction required in the condenser section and producing the flow of air necessary to convey the cotton from the beaterv4 to the condenser. In a picker room where a battery of these machines are in operation, a large volulme of air is continuously withdrawn from the room and exhausted out of doors. This is undesirable in the winter time and in cold climates devised, so far as we are aware, largely due to the diiiiculty of cleaning up the air stream sufiiciently to prevent the production of a dirty sheet. A

further objection to installations of this type has been the inability to control the air properly so thata good sheet would be delivered by the condenser. In other words, this fact of recirculating air in a closed circuit disturbs, in some manner,

i the uniformity of flow or the proper distribution of the air, with the result that the sheet produced is far less uniform than that made in machines operated in the usual manner.

The present invention deals with these problems, and it aims to devise a thoroughly satisfactory solution for them.

The nature of the invention will bereadily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

`In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a` vertical, sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic in character, of a picker unit equipped with an air filtering mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig.1a is a sectional view of a modified lter construction Fig. 2 is a sectional view on a larger scale of the lter structure shown in Fig. 1 and the parts immediately associated therewith; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectional view approximately on the line 3 3. Fig. 2.

Referring rst to Fig. 1, the construction there shown comprises a beater 2, condenser cylinders 3 3, a blower 4, and the delivery rolls 5 associated with the condenser to discharge the sheet, all of these parts being constructed, arranged and operated in the well known manner. As usual, the beater, condenser and blower are enclosed in 5 a casing E which is equipped with ductsiorconducting air from the condenser screens orcylinders 3 to the intake of theyblower and with suitable partitions for directing or guiding the ow of air through the dust chamber in the casing along the desired paths. So far as these features are concerned, no change need bemade in the prior art constructions. Also, the cotton may be fed to the beater in any suitable manner, the particular arrangement shown consisting simply of a feed table 'I across which a sheet deliveredI by a previous unit is guided to the feed rolls 8 of the beater.

According to the present invention a filter unit, indicated in general at I0, is installed in some convenient location in the machine, as for example, directly under the feedtable 1. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, this unit comprises upper and lower, hollow, driven rolls I2 and I3, respectively, of perforated or foraminous construction, and a lter screen I4 in the form ofan endless belt stretched over and supported on these rolls. Both rolls extend horizontally across the entire space inside a lter housing or casing I5, and are supported for rotation in bearing elements forming a part oi said housing. The ends of these rolls project through the housing and con- 4 sequently, the spaces inside them are in free communication with the air spaces IG--I6 in the casing 6 at opposite ends of the lter casing I5, 35 these spaces I6 communicating directly with, or forming a part of, the dust chamber in the casing B. Also, the endplates a and b are cut away, as shown at I9-I9, to provide free communication between the air spaces I6 and the space 40 inside the filter screen. As shown in Fig. 3, the blower 4 draws air from the beater through condenser cylinders` 3, the ducts I'I-Il in the casing 6 and the pipes I Il-IB, and discharges it through a conduit 20 which 45 connects the exhaust end of the blower with the i lower part of the lter casing I5. This casing is substantially closed except for its intake, the openings Ill-I9 and those through the opposite j ends of the rolls I 2 and I3. Consequently, thi, 50 stream of air iscompelled to iiow through the lter sheet or screen I4, thence into the chambers `IG-Il, and from there into the main portion of the dust chamber in the casing 6. While Home of this air flows directly through the portion of vertical, fiat runs or sheets connecting the two rolls, and thus enters the space between these runs from which it can flow freely through the holes Iii-I9 in the ends of the casings or through the rolls. 'I'he screen Il may be made of any suitable filtering material, that preferred consisting of a fine woven wire screening, such as the Fourdrinier wire usedin paper making machines.

As the air iiows through this screen in the mannerjust described, it deposits most of the solid material carried by it on the outer surface of the screen, thus filtering the air very effectually. At the same time the lint and other solid materials collect on the screen in the form of 'a layer or fieece. In order to keep this filter in efflcient condition, such accumulations must be removed practically continuously from the surface of the screen, and for this purpose two feed rolls 2l are mounted, one above the other, closely ad-y jacent to the surface of the screen I4 where it bears against the lower roll I3. These two rolls are driven continuously in opposite directions Aat a slow speed, and they serve to remove the fleece from the surface of the screen and feed it away from this surface and into a box or drawer 22 which can be removed from time to time and emptied. Such removal of the accumulated waste material from the surface of the screen would be impeded by the pressure of the air stream against it if it were not for the fact that the casing I5 is provided. with a iiange 23 extending inwardly to a point where it just clears the upper roll 2i, While another flange or shie'ld- 24,curved around the lower roll I3, terminates substantially at the periphery of the lower of the rolls 2|. Thus these parts reduce the air flow to negligible limits in the region at which the fleece is being removed from the screen.

Any suitable arrangement may be used for driving the filter and the parts associated therewith, the particular construction shown comprising a chain 25, driven by a sprocket wheel on the lower condenser cylinder-shaft 2B and driving a sprocket wheel 21, Figs. 2 and 3, on a shaft 28. This shaft is connected by a sprocket and chain drive with another shaft 30 on which the upper roll 2l is mounted, this roll being geared directly to its companion lower roll, and also driving a gear 3l fast on one end of the lower hollow roll I3.

As above stated, one of the diiiiculties experienced in operating a picker in which the air is recirculated through a'flxed path inside the machine is that the condenser does not deliver as uniform a sheet or web of cotton as it should. Apparently this is due to some fault in air distribution inside the dust chamber. Our investigations indicate that the blower picks up air on its suction side through leaks which are extremely diiicu1t,'if not impossible, to stop, and which may, in fact, be desirable, and it discharges this air into the dust chamber where it creates an excessive pressure which seems to be v responsible for the difiiculty above described. But whatever the correct explanation may be, we have found that this condition can be remedied by providing openings 33--33 through the casing 6 at opposite sides of the dust chamber which afford a limited but substantial interchange of air between the dust chamber and the picker room. In other words, while the greater part of the filter air is retuned to the beater and is re-circulated and the entire air stream used in the machine is guided in a fixed and pri determined circuit, nevertheless a sufficient inte change of air is permitted between the du chamber and the surrounding atmosphere 1 maintain the air pressure in the dust chamb always equal to, or balanced by, that of the su! rounding atmosphere. This arrangement we fir has an extremely important effect in the formi tion of the sheet, and enables us to control tl sheet forming operation as accurately, and i produce as uniform results, as those obtained i the orthodox pickers not equipped to recircula the air. These equalizng openings 33-33 ma either be left entirely open, or may be partial closedA with grids, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and- The arrangement above described thus pri vides for the continuous flow in a complete ci: cuit of the large volume of air required in picker, while at the same time filtering tl greater part of the foreign materials out of tl air stream and maintaining the filter screen autl matically and continuously in an effective cond tion. In addition, it provides for that equalizi tion of air pressure inside and outside the mi chine which is necessary in order to make good sheet. It will be observed that both rui of the filter screen I 4 extend entirely across tl space between the plates a and -b and that the.` broad flat surfaces may be as high as the dimer sions of the machine will permit. Consequentl this arrangement provides very large air lte: ing areas. Leakage around the edges of tl screen between it and the -walls a and b may l minimized by placing batten strips 31-31 ju inside the screen where its margins will be: against said strips, these strips extending vert cally from the roll I2 to the roll I3. Hand hol 36-36, normally closed by removable plates, a; provided in the machine casing in line with tl space inside the filter screen so that an operan can reach into this area if necessary for ar purpose. 'I'he openings I9-I9 through whic the air escapes from the inside of the filter scref into the compartments Iii-I6 of the dust chan ber, afford a volume of iiow which may l adequate without making the rolls I2 and I3 foraminous construction, and consequentl either, or both, of them may be made solid or 1 tubular non-perforate form. In fact, it is prefe able when the additional air space is not nece` sary, to make the lower roll I3 of imperfora form since this makes it easier to strip the flea from the screen Il.

Another form of filter which can be used 1 place of that shown and has the advantage l presenting a large filtering surface for handlil the large volume of air used in pickers, is shov in Fig. 1a.l Here several tubular rolls of foram nous construction, illustrated at 40, 4I, l2 at 43, are mounted one above the other in peripl eral contact with each other, each roll having covering or peripheral surface consisting of fine mesh screen or its equivalent. All of the. rolls are driven slowly in the same direction ar they are all mounted in the same general mal ner as are the rolls I2 and I3 of the constructic previously described. Consequently, the air di charged by the blower I passes through the su faces of these\rolls into their bores and out in the chambers 16x-I6, the screening surfaces the rolls flltering'out the coarser solid materia carried by the air stream. As above indicate there is sufficient residual fiber in the air strea to form a fleece on the screening surface, ar this fleece is transferred from the lefty-hand sic of the lower roll vl to the same side of the next roll above it, and so on to the uppermost roll 43.'

This roll,'.in turn, transfers its eece to the righthand side ofthe roll `42 which gives it up to the roll 4I and the accumulation on the latter is taken off by the bottommost roll` 40. Stripper rolls 2|, like those shown in Fig. 2, are associated withthe last mentioned roll and serve to remove theiieece from it and deposit it in the dust box 22.

`While we have herein shown and described a typical embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. For example, other forms of filters and condensers may be substituted for those shown.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim as new is:

1. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow ofA air through said beater and through the dust chamber in said casing, incombination with means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower and discharging the same into said chamber, a filter screen through whichsaid means compels said exhaust air to flow, means for supporting and feeding' said screen to intcrpose a broad fiat section of the screen continuously across said exhaust 1 air stream, whereby the lint, fiber and foreign materials carried by said stream will be deposited upon said fiat section of the screen, and means for removing said deposit from said screen.

2. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a blower communicating `with said con denser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and through the dust chamber in said casing, in combination with a pair of rolls, a filter screen supported on said rolls in the form of a belt, mechanism for revolving one of said rolls andthereby fe'eding said belt, and means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower through said filter `screen and thence back into said dust chamber.

3. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow ol air through said beater and through the dust chamber in said casing, in combination with a pair of rolls, a filter screen supported ony said rolls in the form of a belt,

`mechanism for revolving one of said rolls and thereby feeding said belt, and means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower through said filter screen and thence back into said dust chamber, whereby the ber and dust carried by said exhaust air will collect on said screen in the form of a layer, and power driven means for removing said layer from said screen.

4. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and through the dust chamber in said casing, in combination with a pair of parallel spaced rolls, a filter screen supported on said rolls in the form `of a belt, mechanism for revolving one of said rolls and thereby feeding said belt, one at least struction, a housing in which said rolls and said screen are mounted, means connecting said housing with theexhaust end of said blower whereby the air discharged from said blower will be forced through said screen, through said foraminous rolls, and out the ends thereof, said rolls being mounted for rotation in bearings provided in said housing and said housing being constructed to confine and direct the entire flow of exhaust air through said screen.

5. A cotton picker including a beater, ay condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and through the dust chamber in said casing, in combination with a pair of parallel spaced rolls, a filter screen supported on said rolls in the form of a belt, mechanism for` revolving one of said rolls and thereby feeding said belt, means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower through said filter screen and thence back into said dust chamber, whereby the ber and dust carried by said exhaust air will collect on said screen in the form of a layer, a second pair of rolls positioned closely adjacent to said screen where they are operative to take said layer off the screen and feed it away from the latter, and means for reducing the iiow of air through said screen in the region of said second pair of rolls, whereby theremoval of said layer from the screen by the rolls is facilitated.

6. A cotton picker according to preceding claim 2, in which said means includes a filter housing in which said rolls are mounted where they support said filter belt with its edges in contact with the opposite ends of said housing, the housing being provided with apertures opening into the space inside said belt, whereby air passing through said screen and into said space can escape through said aperture.

7. A cotton picker including a beater, a con- Ycombination with means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower and discharging the same into said chamber, and a filter through which said exhaust air is conducted on its way to said chamber, said filter comprising a plurality of filtering rolls mounted to revolve closely adjacent to each other and through which the air flows from the outside to the inside, whereby the accumulated solids collect as a fleece on the outer surfaces of said rolls, and means for revolving them in such directions and in such a relationship to each other that the fleece will be transferred from one roll to another.

8. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beaterV and condenser and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it material collected on the surfaces of said rolls by the filtering action.

9. A cotton picker comprising a beater, a con-` denser, an air ,iilter. a casing enclosing said beater, filter and condenser and providing a dust chamber under said beater, a blower connected. with said condenser and arranged to create suctidn in it and thereby to draw air from said dust ch'amber through said beater and condenser, said filter being located outside said dust chamber, and means connecting said filter with said blower to conduct the air discharged by the blower through said filter and to return the filtered air again to the dust chamber.

10. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a dust chamber in said casing operatively associated with said beater, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and said dust chamber, in combination with means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower back into said chamber for recirculation through said beater and condenser, a filter including a 'movable filter 'surface through which the air stream so created is conducted on its way from said condenser to said chamber, and means for substantially equalizing the air pressure in said chamber with that outside the machine.

11. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a dust chamber in said casing operatively associated with said beater, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and said dust chamber, in

combination with means for conducting the exh ust air from said blower back into said chamb r for recirculation though said beater and ccnd nser, and a self-cleaning filter in said casing t rough which said air stream is conducted `on its way from said condenser to said chamber.

12. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a dust chamber in said casing operatively associated with said beater, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air `through said beater and said dust chamber, in combination with means for conductingthe exhaust air from said blower back into said chamber for recirculation through said beater and condenser, an air filter through which the air stream so created is conducted on its way from said condenser to said chamber, said filter including a movable filter surface through which said air stream iiows, and mechanism for moving said surface transversely of the air stream.

13. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a dust chamber in said casing operativelyV associated with said beater, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and said dust chamber, in combination with means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower back into said chamber for recirculation through said beater and condenser, an air filter through which the air stream so created is conducted on its way from said condenser to said chamber, said filter including an endless filter surface, mechanism for moving said surface to present different portions thereof in filtering position, and means for removing from said surface material filtered thereby out of the air stream.

14. A cotton picker including a beater, a condenser, a casing enclosing said beater and condenser, a dust chamber in said casing operatively associated with said beater, and a blower communicating with said condenser and arranged to create suction in it and to produce a flow of air through said beater and said dust chamber, in

combination with means for conducting the exhaust air from said blower back into said chamber for recirculation through said beater and condenser, an air filter through which the air stream so created is conducted on its way from said condenser to said chamber, said filter including an endless filter surface, mechanism for moving said surface to present different portions thereof in filtering position, and means for substantially equalizing the air `pressure in said chamber with that outside the machine.

ROBERT S. CURLEY. WILLIAM SHAW. 

